<p>Congrats to those disembarking at their port of call this weekend. I found that the first week or so was filled with a bit of second-guessing the decision, along with some dismay at the new to-do list presented by the chosen college (pick a dorm, find a room-mate, pick a meal plan, pick an orientation, take placement exams, etc. etc.) Now we are past those things & it finally feels good here on shore! </p>
<p>Great to wake up (out here in the Pacific Time zone) to all the good news:</p>
<p>@momreads – I just LOVE reading about your son’s track accomplishments. As noted before, his success just didn’t fall out of the sky into his lap serendipitously. It’s the product of a lot of hard work and training. It’s wonderful to hear about him doing so well. . . why would he close the door to some eleventh hour offers?</p>
<p>@jrmama496 – I went to the googledoc to see what your son’s choices were. Wow. There were a lot of good decisions he could have made. You must be thrilled with Vanderbilt, and also with this being a done deal.</p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom – What a great story – A kid from Michigan gains clarity regarding his college choice by walking around Manhattan. You couldn’t script this stuff. You have dozens of us all over the country following every twist and turn of his deliberations. Can’t wait for a decision.</p>
<p>Finally, a shout out to
@3tallblonds – am a bit concerned that you’ve gone into total radio silence. Hope that you’re all surviving this final decision-making process. Dying to know the final decision(s).</p>
<p>Good morning shipmates! So much good news today. Congrats to your son @momreads! So happy his senior year is ending on such a high note. And @jrmama496, I was pulling for Vandy. 
Glad to see your son agrees.
@2016BarnardMom - You have such resiliency & patience. Let us know what he decides.</p>
<p>Spygirl just completed her roommate questionnaire. Godspeed to whomever they match her with: she plays the ukulele incessantly, isn’t the tidiest human and is an asthmatic so roommate can’t wear perfume or use fragrant products. </p>
<p>Who has purchased plane tickets for next fall to bring their kiddos home? And did you buy for T-day and Christmas/Hanukah too?</p>
<p>You all will definitely know as soon as that deposit is made! LOL </p>
<p>I think it is smart to buy tickets for Thanksgiving at this point because they get VERY expensive. It’s more dangerous to buy the Christmas tickets too early. I know at Barnard there are rules about the women having to leave the dorm no more than 24 hours after their last final exam. The final exam schedules are not posted until November so I’ve not been able to buy BarnardGirl’s ticket home for winter break until the exam schedule is posted. So far, she’s not been able to leave before the last day. </p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom - Does your son know he’s the star of College Confidential’s versions of the Truman Show? LOL So they have to leave 24 hours after their last final?</p>
<p>He would probably be horrified if he knew, truth be told. Shhhhh.</p>
<p>Yes, at Barnard, they have to move out of their dorms no later than 24 hours after the last final. I think it is to prevent those who have finished from whooping it up while others are still trying to study and get through theirs? I seem to remember it could be a lot of fun to still be at school after classes and finals were over. By the 5th day of finals, not very many would still be needing to study and I imagine the fun and frivolity the others were having would be pretty distracting! Another caveat to Barnard’s rule- finals end on Thursday but if you have a final Thursday, you have to be out by 9 am Friday. That has meant 7 am flights for BarnardGirl some years- which she wasn’t super happy about. </p>
<p>@Agentninetynine - my D would love to room with yours if they were attending the same college! She bought a ukelele a few months ago & is trying to teach herself to play it. She is also not the tidiest human (understatement) & doesn’t care about fragrances. She does love to go to bed at 9:30 however, so that will be her roommate challenge!</p>
<p>We’ve purchased tickets for Thanksgiving, Christmas break, and spring break. Fall break tickets are on hold since he’ll be playing a fall sport and we are still unsure of the practice schedule for that weekend. And we haven’t purchased summer break tickets since who knows where he will be over the summer. We’ve also purchased parents’ weekend tickets and booked hotel rooms for that weekend and orientation.</p>
<p>I figure if I have to change the dates for Christmas break I’ll just pay the change fee or put him in a hotel if he needs to move out and I can’t change the ticket.</p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom - 7 a.m.? That is positively cruel.</p>
<p>@GetrudeMcFuzz - Sisters from another mother… DD is an early to bed, early to rise kind of kid. She’s worried how she’s going to manage to stay awake for her grad night party. </p>
<p>@2014Novamom - I bow to your zen-like organizational skills. Wow – how do you know when all of these events are taking place? DD’s school hasn’t released their 2014-2015 schedule. </p>
<p>Still trying to plan out the logistics of how DD, her car and her stuff will get to school. Not really looking forward to driving two cars to California. Max and Spykid will want to send her off and we’ll need their help to move in. I foresee Southwest Airline tickets in our future.</p>
<p>@agentninetynine – Maybe this will help:
<a href=“http://www.oxy.edu/registrars-office/academic-calendar/2014-2015-academic-calendar”>http://www.oxy.edu/registrars-office/academic-calendar/2014-2015-academic-calendar</a></p>
<p>Am glad this discussion has opened up. Our son’s school has classes scheduled for the Weds before Thanksgiving, but according to other parents on the CC Emory thread for the past two years Weds classes have more or less been cancelled (class by class, by the professors) in early/mid-November. That’s a big deal to us, because it would be of great benefit to fly him home across the country on Tuesday night. I think I’m going to hold my breath and buy his ticket home for Tuesday night. Prices are already out of sight. . . Similarly, am already looking at booking his flights for Winter break.</p>
<p>@AsleepAtTheWheel - Thank you. I was just on their site and couldn’t find it. So much for my googling prowess. My head has been in the clouds lately. Was at a somewhat elegant event last night and walked into the men’s restroom - LOL.</p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom – LOVE your son’s NYC itinerary! I completely understand how your D has not seen half of these places. I lived in Manhattan for eight years and never visited the Empire State building until I dragged my boys there several years ago. Sounds like they enjoyed a very well-planned trip, and how completely thrilling to play on the deck of the Intrepid! (Back in my single days, we attended a Black Tie fundraiser on the deck and that was exciting enough. Imagine the fun of performing there. I have not visited since it was rehabbed and returned to the West Side highway.)</p>
<p>The rest of you planning things have me a bit alarmed. I went as far as plugging the school break dates into my calendar for the college and HS, only to learn that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Good Friday are the only overlaps, so a family trip may be in order for the summer, if I could only figure out where to go. </p>
<p>I feel as though I should be buying a duvet cover or something. I keep stockpiling BB&B coupons but w/o any idea what I will use them all for. Someone on some thread here posted the clever suggestion of ordering the fridge from Wal-Mart and arranging for to-store shipping so that we can pick it up near college once the car had been unloaded. I am spending too much mental energy trying to convince this boy that he will need boots, a winter coat, and appropriate dress attire. A difficult concept for one who lives in khakis & tee shirts, with a hoodie for winter wear.</p>
<p>@momreads – congrats on the track times! </p>
<p>@CT1417, where do you find these BB&B coupons - online? And can you use more than one at a time? We’re not big BB&B shoppers as the overwhelming & competing scents in the store give us all a headache. But I’m willing to forge ahead if it means a discount.</p>
<p>I think I made the suggestion about ship to store with Walmart. We did that, but picked it up at home and it took up so much space in the back of the SUV- even though we packed the fridge full of stuff too. It is just a bulky item. I’m kind of regretting not just renting one that first year. BarnardGirl was in a suite with a full kitchen this year and loaned her fridge to friends who didn’t have a suite. We paid for the fridge originally. Then paid to store it last summer ($65 for the fridge). Now her friends have it. She’s in a suite again next year. Her senior year she might be able to use it again, but she may not- just depends on where she lives. I’m not sure it was worth buying it in this case. </p>
<p>@Agentninetynine – they arrive in the mail on the back of mini BB&B catalogs and then other times as free-standing mailers. I have never done anything to encourage this BB&B mailing. IIRC from last year, a 20% off all purchases arrived during the summer. I scanned and emailed it to an international friend and he was able to use it at the BB&B near his child’s school in NY, so they must just assume that everyone uses coupons at BB&B. Our local BB&B is a little bit inconvenient, so I never go there, and I find it overpriced. I buy an awful lot at Costco, but realize that college shopping may drive me to BB&B. I miss Ralph Lauren home outlet centers.</p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom – I meant ship to the Wal-Mart in the college town. Fortunately, there is a Wal-Mart in Ithaca, so that is probably what I will be doing, once I figure out the dorm electric requirements. And, yes, the fridge is bulky. I bought the small cube size when I headed off to college and passed it down to all younger siblings. Good $99 investment and probably doesn’t cost much more than that now.</p>
<p>I really just need to sit down and make a few lists and get cracking! Does anyone else have a son who is even vaguely interested in any of this?</p>
<p>We’ve never received a BB&B mailer, but I have friends close to one so I’m going to ask them to save coupons for us. Spygirl’s school provides the microwave/fridge combo so that’s one heavy item we don’t have to worry about.</p>
<p>Congratulations @akmom124 on the Brown decision! Ivy bound!! </p>
<p>@yellowgranite56 and @jrmama496 - congratulations on the Vandy decisions! It sounds like the Vandy contingency on CC is growing rapidly! Vandy is a great school and it’s hard to beat Nashville. </p>
<p>I’m sorry if I’ve overlooked anyone else’s recent decisions. Congratulations to everyone who has found their port of call! </p>
<p>Thank you for your advice and support regarding D’s situation. I am going to talk to the adcoms at both schools tomorrow. I’ve heard that double depositing may cause an acceptance to be revoked. I don’t want to create further problems so I am going to be candid with both schools and hope they understand and work with us. If not, that may tell me what I need to know. </p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom - your S’s itinerary sounds a lot like D’s when her choral group sang at Carnegie Hall. I was amazed by the number of sites they packed into a few days! I can’t wait to hear S’s decision! </p>
<p>I am hoping that I will be talking about dorm shopping and BB&B coupons in the near future. </p>
<p>I think the weather decided to bypass spring and head straight into summer. It is really warm, the sun is shining and everything is green. I need to get out and get my flowers planted! After that, I think I’ll have a sweet tea vodka out on the deck and try to de-stress. </p>
<p>Congrats Jrmama496! Wonderful news!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Congrats! The fireworks happen in July when you get the first bursar’s statement, and protocol is to shout “INCOMING!” before you open the envelope. </p>
<p>I’ve been saving my bb&b coupons for years now - they get mailed to me. They may technically expire, but they always accept them. They’re 20% off a single item so things add up when you’re buying command strips, power cords, trash cans, curtains, bedding, etc.</p>